Zenith
by Tankou001
Summary: Hinata and Chouji's teams return only to find a long dead foe alive and well in control of Konoha. The Sequel to Quintessence and ending to Transcendence, Chouji struggles to save his love and their students struggle between different opinions of "Right"


Zenith

A Chouji X Hinata Fanfiction

Hi All! Tankou001 here with an all new fanfiction!

I know some of you just couldn't wait this time for the third instalment of my Transcendance Series, Zenith, the last part of the series after Pulchritudinous and Quintessence. Sorry for making all of you wait but I tried to get it out as fast as I could XP

As we all know from the last chappie of Quintessence, Tobi is now the Hokage! How did this happen? How did it come to be? We'll see in this chapter!

Enjoy!

{HR}

Chapter One: Escape and Sanctuary

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Uchiha Tobi asked Chouji and the rest as he stood tall above the Akimichi laid to his knees.

"How did this happen?" Chouji asked in a bestial growl as he struggled to rise against the single hand that Tobi held him down with.

"The village of Konohagakure No Sato was in danger and needed a new leader, one who would rule well and responsibly. I am that leader. I was let in by those in power and I expect to be accepted by those of you who have just arrived." Tobi said with an air of power.

"What happened to Tsunade-sama?" Sai asked plainly as he stepped up.

"The Sannin Tsunade has abandoned this village. After the attack from Kagegakure No Sato's forces she fled with her own ninja and they now have become bandits, of a sort." Tobi looked at the group and made a sighing sound. "I understand that, due to the previous circumstances, you all left for your own reasons. Akimichi Hinata and this new Akimichi child have, of course, been allowed freedom from arrest due to the circumstances. I understand the need to band together in your flight. As I am a benevolent Hokage I will allow your sentences to be lessened, knowing that you were given little choice." Tobi let go of Chouji's shoulder and stepped back as he rose up violently. "That does not, however, mean that your abandonment will go unpunished."

"Unpunished, you say?" Ty Dao called out. "The Hokage gave us all her blessing in our flight! Who are you to deny us that right? We did as we were allowed!"

"You did so under the rule of a traitor!" Tobi chastised, "Tsunade is no longer the Hokage! I am the ruler of this village and you will answer to me!"

"I will not!" Chouji called out angrily. "You are a dead man!" He said. "I held you down with my own arms and saw your death with my own two eyes! How is it that you're here?"

"This information is none of your concern." Tobi said plainly. "Will you resist further or will you take your punishment like responsible ninja of Konohagakure No Sato?"

"I will not and I speak for my team when I say they will not either! We don't serve dead men or terrorists, both of which you are!" Chouji said.

About half of the remaining people called out as well. However, Sai and Temano, Asame and Shikana, they all balked at this choice. "Then let it be decided now." Tobi announced. "Who will come back to Konoha and who will be left as traitors and killed?"

Chouji let out a low growl but he was surprised when the four who hesitated stepped up. "What are you four doing? Don't join his side!"

"I'm sorry, Chouji-sensei, sister." Shikana said, looking back. "But I want to stay with Konoha. Hokage-sama, are my parents and sister still here?"

"They are, young Nara." Tobi stated

"Then I will return. Shikani, come back with me."

Shikani was stuck at this. Chouji looked at her and the Nara looked at the rest. "I... I can't! Shikana, this isn't right!" She said. "Something's definitely wrong!"

"Don't you want to see our little sister again?" Shikana asked.

Shikani openly struggled with things and looked to Sai, who had also gone to Tobi's side. "Sai-sensei? What about you?"

"I am coming back to Konoha." he said simply. "My duty is to the village. I suggest you come with your teammates. Asame-chan and your sister are also with me."

Shikani looked to Temano and spoke up. "What about you, Temano-kun? Aren't you-"

"It should be readily obvious the correct path, Shikani-chan!" Temano snapped out harshly. "What does it matter if there is a new Hokage? It isn't as though it hasn't happened before in a state of war. If this man is willing to take up arms against our enemies then he is my friend and if he is willing to lead our village to betterment then he is my leader!"

"Stop this." Ty Dao's voice echoed into the conversation, catching Temano's attention immediately, "You're being foolish, Temano. You're choosing some new man that you never met over your team. Hokage or no this man used to be an enemy of our village." Ty Dao's eyes stared Temano down, hot and angry with just a bit of moisture, "It disappoints me... I thought you were far wiser than that."

Temano stood frozen, his face a picture of shock. For a moment there was nothing. Then, with a huff of frustration, turned away and stepped to Tobi's side, "Hokage-sama... You have my allegiances." He said briefly before continuing to step back through the guards.

"You would all be wise to learn from these four." Tobi stated bluntly. "I'll give you all one last chance to throw down your hostilities and join Konoha in this war."

Shikani was still torn but Hinata stepped forward, Takara in hand, and put her free hand on Shikani's shoulder. "She won't be going with you." Hinata said. "She belongs with us. We will not be swayed to your side." Hinata looked at Temano, her eyes so very cold for the first time Chouji had ever seen. "I am very disappointed in you, Temano. I though I had trained you better... However, it is your choice and we all must honor it..."

"So be it." Tobi said simply, reaching upward to snap his fingers. In a quarter an instant Anbu guards were all around them, swarming the group of rebels. "Take all of these traitors into custody. Kill them if you have to but leave Akimichi Hinata and her child alive. They are still valuable members of Konoha."

"No!" Chouji yelled as a few Anbu stepped in between him and Hinata. He swung out and the Anbu froze solid from the sweeping air that came from the great blade. "Let her go!" Chouji suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his spine. He swept his elbow back and pummelled an anbu in the face before turning. "Everyone get out of here!" he cried, sweeping out to bash a nearby Anbu.

Over the next few seconds the battle went from minor resistance to all out slaughter. Chouji's group tore Anbu apart easily but they were just so many. Finally, after near a minute of battle Chouji watched as Shikana, Sai, Temano and Asame walked away and Tobi stepped into the fray. He neared Chouji and the angered Akimichi swung out, only to be put to flight by the new hokage. He flew through the air and landed hard several feet away. He recovered just fast enough to see Takara in Tobi's hands and Hinata being dragged away by about five Anbu, screaming and crying in fear. "Hinata!" Chouji cried as he stood but was cut off by more ninja. "Give her back, you monster!" Chouji screamed as he began to swath a path of destruction through his former allies. "Let my wife and child go!"

They were too many, just too many for even Chouji and his group to handle. Shikani, somewhere along the way, was rendered unconscious and taken. Maya was tied up and dragged off. Ty Dao, even in her throes of battle, was put under some kind of jutsu that slowed her and allowed her to be taken. After near a half an hour of holding their ground it was just getting to be too much. Chouji backed up against a nearby building and saw how Kyogi and Hizano were fighting to retrieve Ty Dao. Anka was holding her ground on a nearby roof but she had taken many injuries. Chouji winced in pain as many spiked chains wrapped around his arms and legs, cutting off his movement. Suddenly, however, a piece of paper drifted down from the sky in front of Chouji's face. Ornate lettering on it wrote _Help Is Coming_. Chouji didn't quite understand this but he tried hard to fight on. Another minute passed and Chouji looked on as Anka was tied up and started to be hauled away. Only three were here any longer. What would happen?

Just as this thought crossed Chouji's mind sheets of paper flurried into the area, slapping in Anbu faces and materializing as a tall woman with a pierced lip and great paper wings. Her long blue hair adorned a head that held a perpetually bored expression. Chouji knew this woman as Ichibani Kona. This was help! He looked around to see what seemed like text flying through the air and tossing ninja about. Tanget flew down from above and Umori Kodama burst through the fray to strike at the Anbu who had secured Anka. Chouji felt renewed and fought through the masses until Tanget came down to pick him up. Still, this was not what he had been expecting. Tanget simply heaved him into the air and started to fly off with him. "What are you doing?" He cried at Tanget as kunai and shuriken whizzed past them. "We need to get the others back! Hinata's still down there!"

"We don't have the time nor force for that, Chouji-kun!" Tanget said with a serious face.

"But what will happen to them?" Chouji cried, "I need to save them!"

"Think about this Akimichi Chouji!" Tanget yelled sternly. "They are still alive! You have other chances and will continue to have them! Don't think you're the only one who faces losses!" Chouji looked up at Tanget's face to see tears flowing down her cheeks. Clearly Chouji hadn't been the only one to lose something. He let himself be carried off quietly after seeing this. Every once in a while he would look around, seeing Kodama below running with Anka in her arms or Kona and Brayden carrying Hizano and Kyogi respectively with paper wings and text as they flew. Eventually the group was well outside of Konoha. How far had they flown? When they landed Tanget let Chouji go and the strength left him completely. He fell to his knees and turned back to his original form, the appearance of Chouji just like he was before the Beast Man save for his onyx black armor. Tanget stepped over him and offered a hand but Chouji couldn't take it. He was supporting himself on his hands and knees, still in something of disbelief at what all had happened. "Come on Chouji-kun, get to your feet."

Chouji just stared at the ground. "I couldn't save her, Tanget-san."

"You're not the only one." Tanget said simply. "They have my cousin and Kona-chan's daughter. We all faced losses to Uchiha Tobi but we have a group that is working to take it all back. Come with me. Tsunade-sama is nearby." Chouji looked up at Tanget in desperation. So Tsunade was still around? Reluctantly he took Tanget's hand and she hauled him to his feet. "There's a good man. Come on. We need to fix those injuries too."

Soon enough the rest had arrived. Kodama carried an unconscious Anka. Kona landed with Hizano and Brayden with Kyogi. The seven walked along with Anka now in Chouji's arms. They walked for near an hour before getting to a small cave opening. Uchiha Itachi stood outside it and nodded when they neared. "Come on in. We've been expecting you." He said, leading the group in. "Bad things happened after you left, Chouji-san." Itachi said plainly. "All who are here were lucky to get away with their lives."

"I could see that..." Chouji said in a depressed manner. "They've got Hinata and Takara..."

"I apologize for that." Itachi offered heartfully. "Am I to guess Takara is your child?"

"Yes." Chouji said as the group walked through the tunnels. "She's our little girl..."

"Sakura and Sasuke were captured early in the take-over but we have them back now." Itachi commented. Chouji knew who Sasuke was. Though it was Uchiha Sasuke it was not the old Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura and Itachi's son was named Uchiha Sasuke, in honor of Itachi's younger brother and Sakura's former teammate, now long dead. "I am sure, soon enough, you'll have them back." The group walked a bit more through the dim lighting of the torch lit tunnel but eventually they found a much brighter light. "Welcome to Tekigakure No Sato, The Village Hidden Within The Enemy. It's a new village that we founded along with many other members of different villages. This is as much our home now as Konoha used to be."

Within the great cavern that the group stepped into was a grand gathering of people, both new and old. It was something of a melting pot of cultures, so it seemed. Chouji noticed a few people here and there from completely different villages, including Doubutsu Tai Tankou, Tanget's little brother and the jinchuuriki of the eight tails bijuu. Many people wore hitai ite from villages Chouji didn't know at all. Some were clearly ninja but didn't wear hitai ite at all. "Who are all of these people?" Chouji asked to anyone who would answer.

"Members of the new village." A voice came from behind Chouji as an unseen being pushed past. Chouji was a bit surprised when Hyuuga Hanabi simply appeared in front of him from thin air. "That's really all anyone needs to know." She said blandly. "Where is my sister?"

Chouji looked down at Hanabi, who barely stood past five feet tall, despite her age. "She was taken." He said sadly. "Her and Takara... Uchiha Tobi took them."

"I see..." Hanabi said in a plain sort of tone. "Then we will rescue them." Hanabi said as though it would be easy for her.

Chouji just gave a helpless look. Itachi guided him down through the crowds and into a small room carved out of the cavern wall. Inside Tsunade and several others sat, including Gaman Aryū, Sabaku No Gaara, Ichibani Kona and some other clearly foreign ninja. Tsunade looked up as Chouji entered with Itachi. "Ah, Itachi-san, thank you. You may leave Akimichi Chouji here with us for now. Go fetch Tanget-san, if you would. We need her foreign expertise in some matters." Itachi nodded and left. Tsunade beckoned him further into the room. "Take a seat, Chouji-kun. We have some things that you need to know about and I'm sure you'd like to be caught up on the general state of the world right now."

Chouji nodded and stepped into the room as Tsunade scooted over and pat the ground beside her once. Chouji sat down next to her. In the middle of the many ninja who sat in a large circle was a huge map of the continent. Little tiles were placed all over it and each ninja in the circle had small sticks which Chouji guessed were to push the pieces about the board. "As I am sure you may know, Chouji-kun," Tsunade started, "Konohagakure No Sato has been taken over by Uchiha Tobi, an event nobody saw coming." Chouji nodded. "As well as this predicament several other villages, in what seems to be an organized plan of systematic coups, have been taken over by those who we guess are in league with Uchiha Tobi. What villages did survive the continental sweep that Kagegakure No Sato deployed have, for the most part, been taken over through these systematic downfalls. It seems that very familiar faces previously thought buried are at the head of these takeovers."

"Uchiha Tobi isn't the only dead person to take a village he belonged to." Tanget said, walking in slowly with Tankou in tow. "Momoishi Zabuza, who we knew very well was long dead, attempted to take Kirigakure No Sato shortly after the Kagegakure sweep." Tanget sat down across from Chouji and Tsunade, Tankou behind her. "Fortunately we managed to stay under our current control through well placed tactics and strategies. Zabuza and the few loyal to him were quickly wiped clean from our territory. However, it disturbs me greatly that he was as alive as he seemed..." Chouji raised an eyebrow. "He had a pulse, a working respiratory system, everything. Let's not forget that he is over a decade dead. We're dealing with serious power here."

"Furthermore, it seems like all of these returned villains are just as powerful as they were the first time around." Tsunade commented. "We were hoping that you may be able to help in more ways that just your own efforts. Is there any way that you could get the bears to help?"

Chouji hesitated. "I'm not sure. I could consult with them but I can't make any promises. The Polar Clan only helped me last time because I had the ability to pay them back then. I don't have any such resources this time and they don't deal with people who don't have a pact with them. Even with my prestige after my last visit I doubt they'll put forth the effort of before. The Polar Clan doesn't like getting involved in problems not directly bothering their way of life, after all."

"Understandable." Tsunade said. "We had hoped, for a time, that Uzumaki Naruto could assist us with his toads. However, the night before we were to arrange an attack on Konoha to retake it Tobi struck first and took Naruto-kun into custody."

"Well they can't hold him too long, can they? He's got near full control of the Kyuubi No Youko." Chouji stated

"This would normally be true." Tsunade stated. "However, Tobi came up with a method that would keep Naruto-kun down."

"He's being kept in a lead cell." Aryū stated. "They pipe in clean, dry air and feed him a drop of water and a grain of rice a day. Because of his control over the Kyuubi he is able to survive, but just barely. He's got no extra power to get free."

Chouji slapped his forehead with a hand. "Guess that ruins things, huh?"

"Exactly." Tsunade said soberly.

"Perhaps we should inform him on our next plan." Gaara said. Tsunade looked at Gaara and nodded. "Sunagakure No Sato successfully fought back Kagegakure but afterward we fell victim to Sasori, formerly of the Akatsuki. He now rules over what is left of Suna. However, we have some informants inside that are assisting us in the retaking of Suna. We are trying to rally what little help we can and send in civilian troops to this location. Once those civilians get here we are going to start training those that we can in any ninja abilities we can teach them. That being the case it would be good of you to teach anything you can, Akimichi Chouji."

"I'll do my best but I can't make any promises, Gaara-san." Chouji said confidently. His depression had left him. Now that he had found out just what powers he had in his arsenal, all that filled his mind was cold, calculating, methodical revenge. "I apologize for my ignorance but could I ask who all is here?"

"Ah yes," Tsunade spoke up. "Apologies, Chouji-kun. I believe you already know Aryū-san, Kona-san, Tanget-san and Tankou-san. You also know Gaara-san, of course. The man in plaid is Ahearn Dagonet. He comes from the Southern Continent." Dagonet was a ridiculously tall man, similarly built to Chouji. He was all mostly bulky muscle with just enough toned muscle to make him look attractive. He had a large red plaid skirt of sorts, a bunch of fabric wrapped around his figure and the extra rolled up and slung over his shoulder, pinned at the side. Behind him lay a sword about as long as he was tall. "Beside him is the former Tsuchikage of Iwagakure No Sato, Taisho Amare." Amare was a short but comely woman, probably in her early thirties. She wore a loose black body suit with purple gloves, stocking and mask. Her raven hair was in a loose part pony-tail that stuck straight back while the remainder of her hair flowed down the sides of her head and a few locks of hair swept to the sides of her forehead as bangs. Two long hair sticks held her pony-tail in place with the help of a purple ribbon. "And beside her is our Liaison to Kumogakure No Sato, Abimare Mizore." Mizore was positively plain in every way. She was normal height for a woman, flat as a board with straight black hair that hung down from her head. She wore standard issue ninja garb, just a black shirt and pants with a Kumogakure jounin vest. She gave a smile and bowed her head briefly. "Finally there are Akalu Sumire and Cultain Talos from The Demon Country and The Mountain Country respectively." Sumire was a lithe woman with fair skin and long red hair tied into a pony-tail, long bangs stopping just over her face. She wore a long black skirt of sorts and black torso wrappings that just barely seemed to keep her vast decolletage in check. The whole of her shoulder area and her left cheek seemed to be covered in red, tribal style tattoos and a splash of red in the part in her torso wrappings led Chouji to guess that there was more on her that was tattooed than the above portions. Talos was almost the exact opposite. He was more muscular bulk than Chouji and held a dark tan. He stood just a bit taller than Chouji did as well. His hair was a short, spiky black and he was riddled in scars. Behind him sat a sword almost exactly identical to Chouji's own but it was simply plain black. He wore no shirt but his black pants were worn and ragged. His right eye was closed and the massive man didn't seem like he cared to open it any time soon. Neither of the last two looked to be ninja. They didn't hold themselves like ninja and they certainly didn't have hitai ite on them.

Chouji gave a nod to all of the others in turn and then looked back to Tsunade. However, Talos was the first to speak up. "Akimichi-san?" He started in a gruff sort of voice. "How many did you bring with you when you came here?"

"Four, including myself. Two of my students and one student of.. my wife... The rest of the three teams were either captured or went to Uchiha Tobi's side." Chouji said, pausing briefly at the mention of Hinata. "Nara Shikana, Sai, Yuuhi Asame and Utagau Temano all joined Tobi's forces. Hazumi Ty Dao, Ibana Maya and Nara Shikana were taken." Tsunade gave Chouji a look that asked, almost painfully, what happened to Hinata and his child. "Akimichi Hinata... and my daughter, Fubuki Takara were taken as well..." Chouji said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Hyuuga Hizano, Nagamori Kyogi and Hatake Anka came here with me. Anka-chan is unconscious, so far as I know and Hizano-kun and Kyogi-kun are both somewhere in the cavern outside."

Tsunade sighed. "I am sorry for your loss, Chouji-kun. Thank you for the briefing and getting as many as you could. Your losses will not be in vain. We'll get them back in due time." Tsunade turned to the rest.

Talos again spoke. "I too am sorry for your losses, Akimichi-san. However, knowing that you are here helps my conscience a little more." Talos oriented on the whole of the meeting group. "I wish to bring forth an idea. Knowing that we now have another person to spare I wish to inquire as to a mission into Konohagakure No Sato within the week. From previous reports as well as what information I have heard on Akimichi Chouji from Tsunade-sama I believe that, with Akimichi-san's help we may be able to break into a region of Konoha and retrieve Uzumaki Naruto. Akimichi-san, is it true that you excel in taijutsu and may control your size at will?" Chouji gave a nod to this. "In that case you could prove valuable. Would it be possible for you to grow in size near the location and cause a ruckus while a task force moves in under the cover of the alarm? I believe that, with the help of Dagonet-san, Tankou-san, and a few brave souls I could mobilize a team to break into the facility they are holding Uzumaki-san in and get him out of there. Until now we haven't had much of a way to set up an accurate distraction but, with a fifteen story tall machine of destruction at their doors I don't believe Uchiha Tobi would be able to set up a guard unit that could spread out far enough to deal with all of us."

Chouji looked to everyone else and nodded. "I have no problem with this. I know Naruto-kun rather well and I can't deny that his abilities would help us immeasurably." Chouji scanned the group and noticed Tankou and Tanget whispering to each other. He wondered what was going on.

However, Tanget stood and pulled Tankou to his feet as well, speaking out. "Please delay this meeting for a moment. My brother and I wish to speak outside. Would any of you mind?"

"Of course not, Tanget-san." Talos spoke up. Tanget excused herself.

"In the mean time," Aryū spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "I seem to be receiving a message of sorts. I believe this will put things at ease for some of us. Sai is speaking to me at this very moment. He tells me that he wishes to help us in our front against Tobi. He has already consulted Yuuhi Asame and the two agree on being informants to our cause. Nara Shikana and Utagau Temano, however, he has not consulted. He believes they are too loyal to the new Hokage at the moment to be brought into the fold. However, he wishes for us to know that he is still very loyal to Tsunade-sama as well as is Asame-san" Chouji didn't precisely understand how Aryū could do it but she was able to telepathically link herself to people and speak into their minds as well as sometimes accept other people's thoughts as well. He suspected it was a powerful sort of jutsu that allowed her to do this.

"That's a weight off my shoulders." Tsunade admitted. "I was afraid the poor soul had gone stark raving mad. Good to know we have a former Root agent on our side in this case."

Tanget walked into the room with Tankou again. She seemed a little uneasy but Tankou seemed rather determined. "Pardon our exit. My brother Tankou wishes to make something known to you all."

Tanget kept her stance near the door but Tankou stepped further in, completely stern and calm. "As you know I am the eight tails jinchuuriki. However, what you may not know was who my most recent and longest standing sensei was. After my first two teachers died on missions and the third retired I went under the tutelage of a ninja named Moribito Obiya. At the time I had no idea as to who he really was but he showed me many abilities and taught me a large portion of the genjutsu I know today. What I know now is that my former teacher was none other than Uchiha Tobi himself..."

The whole group immediately was up in arms. Even Chouji found himself standing for battle. Tankou, however, did not move as Talos grabbed him around the torso with his sword to the teen's throat. "Don't you move an inch, kid..." Talos said.

"You didn't let me finish, Talos-san." Tankou continued, Talos not moving at all. "I have absolutely no will to go to Tobi-san's side. I simply wanted to make it well known that I have previously been under his teaching."

Tsunade made a noise to bring attention to herself. "I can see how you would want to bring this up and, contrary to most in this room, I am happy for your confession. However, how can we be sure that who taught you was really Uchiha Tobi?"

Tankou looked back at Talos and Talos looked to everyone else, who all nodded. He let Tankou go and stepped back, still at the ready to slice the teen in half. "The man who taught me had one red eye, the sharingan. He also seemed to lack a left eye entirely. On top of that he had used several abilities that I now know were of the Mangekyo Sharingan, including Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi." Tankou looked back at his sister and then at the group. "Tsukuyomi I know first hand. He used it on me before he fled the village when I tried to stop him from leaving." Tankou paused at this. "I believe it was the single most agonizing experience I have ever had to endure. Still, I want everyone to know that I am, in no way, on Tobi-san's side. However, I know what he may be thinking at any given time. I wanted it known so that I could possibly help you. On that note I have to tell you all, wherever Uzumaki Naruto is waiting, so will Tobi be waiting for us."

Talos finally sat down. "So you're saying if we want Uzumaki-"

"We'll have to go through Uchiha Tobi to get him. When Tobi was my teacher he was not at all one to let something he wished to keep out of his sight. Anything he wanted to keep he kept jealously guarded on his person at all times. If he wants to keep Naruto-san from us you can bet he'll be right outside the facility he's keeping Naruto-san in, probably with several clones of himself patrolling the grounds constantly."

"I think I can take care of that." Chouji said aloud.

"No..." Kona spoke up, standing. "I think, so long as we are in the mood for confessions, I have one as well." Kona looked at everyone. "Years ago the Akatsuki went after all of the nine bijuu to capture them. Among them was Konan and Pein. My confession is that I was Konan." Everyone bristled a bit at this. "Though Pein died Naruto-san let me escape with Pein's body. After that I left the Akatsuki and returned to Amegakure to find I was pregnant with Pein's child. Ever since I have rejoined Amegakure and changed my name to Kona. As a former Akatsuki member I can tell you all of what you need to know for Sasori and Deidara, who has taken over Iwagakure No Sato... At least as much as I knew before they were killed the first times."

Tsunade seemed a bit shocked and everyone else seemed downright dumbstruck at the latest developments. Chouji, however, now knew why Kona had always seemed so familiar to him. She seemed familiar because Konan had been present those many years ago when Konoha had been attacked. "Well..." Tsunade started. "I think we should still vote on the retrieval of Uzumaki Naruto."

"Agreed." Talos said, now looking warily at Tankou, though he didn't seem to be too afraid of Konan at the moment. "All in favor, say I."

Everyone exchanged glances a moment before Chouji himself called out. "I." Then, looking at Tankou three others responded positively. Tankou sighed and responded likewise. Everyone else gradually voted positively as well. "So it's unanimous." Tsunade stated. "In one week's time we march on Konoha. In that time we can set up a team and tactics for the retrieval. Doubutsu Tai Tankou, Cultain Talos, Akimichi Chouji and Ahearn Dagonet, you four will set up a team of ten elite jounin rank individuals and bring them to the holding facility that Uzumaki Naruto is being held in. If you can break out anyone else it would only be for the best. Afterward you will bring them to a specified meeting place without delay." Tsunade looked at everyone in the room. "I believe that settles this meeting. Everyone is dismissed."

In short order everyone left the meeting room and Talos waited with Dagonet outside for Chouji. When he left the room Dagonet stepped up and handed him a glass bottle. "Drink deep, Brother. I can tell you need some love from the whiskey fairy."

Chouji raised an eyebrow but drank all the same. The alcohol within the bottle hit him like a ton of bricks as soon as it slammed into his stomach. It was like some of the more powerful drinks the Polar Clan had to offer. "Thank you..." Chouji coughed out.

"No problem." Dagonet said shortly. "I'm sorry for your wife and child, Chouji-san. We've all lost something in this war so far but we'll all get what we can back."

"Do you know if Akimichi Chouza is here?" Chouji asked

"No." Talos answered Chouji's question instead. "Though we have tried to retrieve Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chouza four times we have been incapable of getting them. Twice we've tried we were outnumbered and outmatched and twice they had been moved away before we got there to rescue them."

"Thanks for the information..." Chouji spoke up somberly, drinking a bit more of the whiskey and walking with Talos and Dagonet. "So are both of you not ninja?"

"Guess you could call me one but, in truth, I come from no ninja village and most of my jutsu would be referred to as magic down where I come from. The southern continent doesn't have much in the way of ninja, though the art's the same as anything you'll do."

"I'm not ninja at all, though I am no stranger to the skills." Talos put in gruffly. "I lived on a peak in the Mountain country but, when Kagegakure came through I broke away with a group of Kagerou ninja and came to Konoha. The Kagerou ninja went back after getting their message across. I suppose the best you could call me would be a bounty hunter or mercenary. I guess I'm just a free man who fights."

Chouji looked at the sword on Talos' back and spoke up. "You're sword is surprisingly like my own." Talos made a sound of inquiry and Chouji pulled his knife, which grew to it's full size.

Talos looked at it up and down. "Made from Star Cast I suppose?" Chouji nodded. "The hardest substance known to man and one of the heaviest. Based on the runes and coloration I am guessing you had it bound to you through some sort of chakra placement." Chouji nodded again. "Mine has no such thing. It's heavy enough to need to be carried by three men but I can swing it with one hand if need be. It's just a big slab of star cast. It's called The Dragon Slayer. It repels anyone else aside from myself who touches it."

"It's gotta weigh a ton." Chouji said in amazement.

"Nearly." Talos admitted. "But, unlike your blade, I don't have runes and chakra seals to make it light. I have scars to make me stronger."

Chouji looked at Talos and noted that a fair bit of his heavy scarring was definitely intentional. Along his arms were well placed scars that formed seals and runes. Mine's The Answerer." Dagonet spoke up, warranting Chouji's attention. "Mine and only mine, just like Talos' sword. It becomes infinitely heavy in anyone's hands but my own. It also catches fire if I want it to and I can animate it to a degree to come back to me."

"Mine is roughly the same. It becomes infinitely heavy for those who hold it and infinitely light for me. It also channels polar energy through the blade and alter it's size to my will." Chouji explained.

"Interesting." Talos said as Chouji let his sword become knife once more and sheathed it in the leather scabbard at his hip. "Well I suppose it's good to know someone else has the wherewithal to wield such a big sword. You'll be a good ally, Chouji-san. Let's get around the main cavern and introduce you to some people. Find your students as well."

Over the course of the next hour Chouji met new faces and old ones alike. Sakura sat with Itachi near one of the many fires, holding little Sasuke. Chouji also met Temari and Seiko in the cavern. Tobi had lied to Shikana and Shikani. Still, he had not been entirely wrong. When Temari left with Seiko Shikamaru had stayed behind to let them get away. He had apparently said his farewell and let Temari run, dealing with Tobi to allow him to continue rebuilding Konoha and simply let Temari leave. After all, Temari was not a true citizen of Konoha and Suna was under the control of Sasori. Tobi apparently still had no qualms with Temari's absence though Temari truly did worry for him. Tenzou and Oashisu were present in the subterranean village. Oashi was absolutely enraged to hear her child had gone to the enemy, though Tenzou took it rather well, considering. Matsuri spent time with Gaara in a small room that had been carved out for them. It was a bit bigger than the other rooms but not big enough to classify luxury.

Eventually the three ran into Kyogi, who was spending his time carving out tunnels for the village. Most of the Nagamori Clan had escaped Tobi's take-over and the Nagamori who still remained in Konoha were all informants. They had apparently carved out a good deal of the village proper, though a large fraction of it was already present when the refugees had all arrived. Hizano walked into the main cavern eventually, helping with some materials that were being brought down from the surface to build furniture and some other important things. Anka was already up and at it, so it seemed. She has been healed by some of the Areno Jukei Clan member who had come from Suna. Areno Jukei was a clan that Suna was home to that specialized in healing. Their doujutsu was one that made it so, instead of seeing normally, they saw x-ray images of people. It was a doujutsu that they couldn't turn off, though it did heal injuries with a glance and the clan had long come to terms with not seeing people the same way others did. In fact, apparently many Areno Jukei members pitied those without their eyes. Anka had already found Anko and Kakashi and was spending time with them, telling about what had happened in Hyōga Sanmyaku.

After some time of wandering around with the two other swordsmen Chouji broke off from them to wander about the village itself. Though small in population Tekigakure was very vast in size so far as area went. It extended a mile into the earth and many tens of miles in every direction. Not half of the system had been explored and over half of what the village proper consisted of was made by the Nagamori clan and digging crews. Exploration teams were apparently being sent out daily in all directions so it would be explored rather quickly. Hyuuga explorers were burrowing around in the caverns and tunnels all the time to find new routes and areas to settle while Nagamori diggers were clearing out already established caverns that had caved in over the centuries. Their eyes could clear out the rubble and solidify the unsteady walls of the system so that the new caverns could be put to use.

Eventually, after being completely healed up, Chouji went to bed in a small room Tsunade assigned to him. As he lay down on the hard stone slab that was his bed he looked to the edge and realized just how alone he was now. He had lost Hinata and Takara to Tobi. There was nobody to cuddle up to when he felt alone anymore. There was no crying in the middle of the night. There was no Hinata to rouse when said crying woke Chouji up. Chouji looked through the darkness and found out just how empty his life was no that Hinata and Takara had been taken from him. Slowly tears streaked down his face as he lay awake. Without Hinata and Takara he was nothing, at least not in the sense of happiness. All that was there for Chouji now was sorrow. Eventually the Akimichi faded to sleep. He would save his beloved and kill Tobi for good.

Meanwhile, In Konohagakure No Sato, Hinata sat in her room with Takara, nursing the child. Silent tears flowed down her face as her child suckled restlessly at her breast. Takara had been crying the whole day since they were taken. The infant knew something was wrong. She knew Hinata was unhappy. She was unhappy that her father wasn't around as well. Takara knew her parents and the strange new man that had carried her away from the loud noise was certainly not her father. Now the only quiet time Hinata was getting was when Takara was nursing. Hopefully she would be able to get Takara down to sleep soon.

Still, this hope disappeared as Tobi opened Hinata's door and stepped in. "How is she doing?" He asked plainly.

Takara immediately started crying after she heard Tobi's voice, forgetting the milk that she had been drinking. Hinata looked up at Tobi and covered her breast. "She would be doing a lot better if you would not bother her during feeding." Hinata said angrily, cradling Takara. "Why must you keep me here? Why not lock me up with the rest of my friends?"

"Because you are not at fault for your state of absence, Akimichi Hinata. You were essentially on maternity leave." Tobi stated

"Yet you don't let me go anywhere outside of this dorm?" Hinata asked hostilely.

"Of course not, Hinata-san." Tobi said, "You can't move such a young child too far."

"You speak as though you care."

"I do, Hinata-san. Very much so, in fact." Tobi said as he sat down on a chair near the door. "You are an important member of Konoha as well as your daughter. I assure you that I have only the best intentions for Konoha, even if your husband and his companions may not think so."

"How are you still alive?" Hinata asked. "We were all there when you died. I saw you die with my own two eyes."

"Well perhaps Hyuuga eyes aren't as good as they say." Tobi said with pleasure apparent in his voice. "Regardless, I am your Hokage now. And, as Hokage, I only want the best for Konoha and that includes for you and Takara-chan."

"You don't have the right to use that honorific or call her by her first name." Hinata lashed at Tobi as she tried to calm Takara down.

"I have the right," Tobi started, "To call anyone of Konoha anything I want. I am the Hokage." Tobi stated in a mildly hostile voice. "And you would do best to remember that, Hinata-san." Tobi stood up and walked to Hinata, Takara crying even harder as Tobi reached down and ran a finger along the side of her cheek. "In time I am sure you two will learn to accept that fact and respect me for what I am trying to do for this village... this world."

Hinata turned away and threw her hand out to slap Tobi. Tobi allowed it and Hinata's hand went straight through him as though he didn't exist. "Stay away from her!" Hinata screamed. "Don't touch my baby! Get away from us!"

Tobi stepped back a bit and stood straight. "Very well, If that's what you want." He said, stepping to the door. "I'll arrange to have a meal brought to you in a little bit." Tobi spoke before he left the room.

After a bit of feeding Takara the infant finally cried herself to sleep, leaving Hinata to do a bit of crying herself. She missed Chouji so much. She needed him but knew better than to expect salvation in his arms. Chouji wouldn't come back to save her any time soon and, if he did, he would be stupid. She sat on her bed sobbing as she waited for her meal. However, a knock on the door brought her from her woes. Temano entered, carrying a tray of food and walking across the room. "Good evening Hinata-sensei." Temano spoke as he walked to her table. "I brought you something to eat."

"Don't talk to me like you are still my student." Hinata said somberly as she stood up. She knew that refusing to eat, unlike what most people would think, would be a useless gambit. She had a child to nurse and a body to keep healthy. What use would it do her to starve herself? She sat down at the table and grabbed a bread roll.

"I am still your student, Hinata-sensei." Temano said, a bit of depression in his voice. "I wish you would understand that. I'm just doing what's right for-"

"You're betraying your companions." Hinata said as she bit into the roll. "And you raised your hand against your teammates in full thought to kill if you had to."

"It's better to betray one's companions then betray one's village, Hinata-sensei." Temano said.

"That's not the student I trained." Hinata spoke up, picking up her fork and knife to cut into a piece of meat on her plate. "The Temano-kun I knew didn't betray his companions and let himself fall into the hands of the enemy."

Temano made a pained noise behind Hinata. "You don't know what you're talking about, Hinata-sensei!" He said, careful still to keep his voice down for Takara's sake. "Tobi-sama only wants the best for Konoha. He wants to rebuild and make this place better than it was." Hinata didn't answer this. "I can see you won't be swayed as easily. Chouji-sensei did a horrible thing, turning against the village. He should have turned himself in and joined the village like Sai-sensei and the others. Instead he turned against us all. It hurts me to say this, Hinata-sensei, but you need to understand that this is the right way. Chouji-sensei chose the wrong way... And if I ever see him and he seriously wants to fight me I am willing to take his life even if it means hurting you. I won't go against Konohagakure No Sato just for the well being of a mentor and teacher." Hinata still didn't answer. She was too busy shaking with anger, with hatred for the student that she was sure she had taught to be a proper person instead of a ninja machine. "I'll leave you now, Hinata-sensei. You should finish your meal and get some rest."

Hinata didn't bother to look back as she heard Temano turning. Her eyes swept across her knife and then, using her byakugan, she scanned Temano. "There's always one bad egg, I suppose." A little Hinata figure said at her shoulder. It was her shoulder demon, back again to provide a little "advice," Hinata guessed. "I guess it's too bad. Nothing you can do and all. Just let it be."

"No..." Hinata muttered as the shoulder demon made a noise of inquiry. Hinata stood up, knife in hand, and walked to Temano. Temano paused briefly but, before he could realize that something was wrong Hinata's hands were on him, the knife holding hand reaching around and stabbing him in the chest several times over. He fell and Hinata's eyes welled up with tears that flooded down her cheeks. "I didn't want this, Temano-kun!" Hinata said as Takara woke up and wailed. "I really wanted you to be a good student and make the right choices in life!" Hinata said as Temano grunted in pain beneath her as she stabbed into him with her steak knife. "I'm so sorry for this, Temano-kun! I just wanted to be a good teacher! This is how I ended up!" Hinata said as Temano futilely tried to struggle against Hinata's stabbing.

The door broke down and Anbu agents flooded in, pulling Hinata off Temano and pulling the genin out. Hinata was restrained for a bit until Tobi walked in. "Hinata-san I didn't expect you to attack your own student." He said haughtily, almost as though he was proud.

"I did what I had to do!" Hinata yelled out over Takara's crying. "I taught him poorly and I, as his teacher, took his punishment into my own hands!"

"And you did the wrong thing as well." Tobi said, walking over to Takara's crib. "And, as such, disciplinary measures must be taken." Tobi finished as he reached down to pick up Takara.

"Don't you touch her!" Hinata yelled in fear and anger. "She has nothing to do with this!"

"Yes, but you do." Tobi said. Hinata could practically see the smile beneath his mask. "And I know that, so long as I have little Takara-chan in my possession you won't bother to act so rashly."

"No! You put her back down right now!"

"It's nothing to worry about, Hinata-san. She may not be so keen on me now but I know we'll get along just fine with a few hours to get to know each other. You'd be surprised how good I am with children." Tobi said, walked to the door as Hinata tried to escape the Anbu who held her against the floor. "Until you start properly behaving I'll be keeping an eye on Takara. Don't worry, we've got all she needs and you don't even have to feed her. I'll have a wetnurse take care of it all."

"No!" Hinata cried out as Tobi opened the door. "Give me back my baby! Give her back to me! I'll kill you if you so much as mess up a hair on her head you... evil bastard..." Hinata said as the door closed and the Anbu cleared out in clouds of smoke. "Give me back... my baby..." Hinata pouted into the floor. She knew better than to raise arms now. Tobi had everything he needed to keep Hinata obedient, no questions asked. She would cry herself to sleep on the floor that night, unable to even get up to her bed from her hysterics. How empty her life was now. The anbu had taken everything out of her room as well. Her bed had no sheets or blankets. Her food had been taken, and with it the implements. There was nothing that Hinata could find in the room that could deal herself or others suitable harm. She had indeed contemplated suicide in the first hour after Takara was taken from her but there was nothing that could be used to do the job. Hinata had rammed her head into the floor for a bit but all that did was help to dent the floor, give herself a big bump and hurry her to her unconsciousness.

"Nothing you can do now, Girl." The demon Hinata spoke to Hinata within her dreams. "Just wait for the big guy. He'll come for ya."

"I can't do that, Me." Hinata spoke up, still crying even in her dreams. "How can I live on if that monster has my baby and Chouji is gone from even my eyes?"

"Just hang in there, Girl. You'll be able to pull through." The demon Hinata stepped up to the real Hinata and held her, pulling Hinata into the warmest and yet strangest embrace she had ever been in. To be embraced by oneself was certainly less complicated than it had previously seemed, so long as one had a shoulder demon. "Just cry it all out." And so Hinata did. It was later in that dream that Hinata found out that it was actually possible to cry oneself to sleep while still sleeping after the same course of attaining unconsciousness, though the sleep within sleep that Hinata got was literally just blackness. Apparently, though one could sleep within their own dream, they couldn't dream within it. Still, this was alright. Hinata didn't want to dream. Hinata just wanted to be alone and trapped within the deepest, blackest parts of her mind were just perfect for her.

The next day, back in Tekigakure No Sato, Chouji woke rather abruptly. While his wife had been in a sleep of pure, undreaming blackness Chouji had spent a night full of nightmares that he simply couldn't escape from. The thoughts of Hinata and Takara captured by Tobi and the state of his students had nagged him even as deep as he could sleep. What was happening to them? Chouji had woken up in a cold sweat when he did wake. The sleep he had gotten had, if anything, worn him out even further than he had already been. He ached all over from tenseness and his mind swam with horrible memories of his dreams. He pulled on a pair of pants and staggered out into the main cavern, which was dimly lit by a few small fires and some chakra made lighting. Most of the people hadn't yet woken up but some, like Kona and Tankou, were awake. Kona saw him and gave a wave. "Good Morning Chouji-san. Did you sleep well?"

Chouji shook his head as he neared the pair and sat down beside Tankou. "Not at all... I couldn't stop dreaming of them... how they were doing..."

"It's normal." Tankou said plainly. "I suffered the same and so did many of us. The heartache and worry makes it that much better when you finally do meet with them again... And you will see your family again, Chouji-san, trust me."

"My daughter is in Konoha at this moment as well but I know that she is alright without me. She is her father's daughter, after all." Kona spoke up, handing Chouji a bowl of stew freshly ladled from the pot above the fire. "Do not worry for Hinata-san. She will be just fine until you rescue her."

Chouji nodded a bit and ate his stew in relative silence. Later that day he met up with some other people who he didn't particularly know. Ninja and civilians alike had come to this place. Some ninja were from small villages that Chouji hadn't heard of at all. Some of the ninja's villages had been completely wiped out in Kagegakure's sweep of the continent. This place was all they had left to run to. According to Talos, the Mountain Country had fared quite well, actually. Due to the terrain most of the inhabitants, ninja or no, had been able to drive back the enemy ninja by home turf advantage alone. Even skilled ninja weren't exactly able to brave the harshness of the Mountain Country in winter. The inhabitants of the Mountain Country, however, were used to it all and the civilians of the higher altitudes were tough even by ninja standards. They were just made of better stuff than normal people. Kagerougakure No Sato fought back the assault with ease and The Cave Village was hardly noticed at all, due to their position far beneath the surface. Any non-ninja villages were simply able to fend off the attacks through organized civilian strike teams. Due to the terrain Kagegakure's forces simply couldn't muster the human wave style attack they managed on the lower land villages so the best they apparently had gotten to was a couple dozen ninja at a time in strike forces.

Eventually Chouji went with Hizano on an exploration mission into a deeper part of the cave system. They walked deep into the system, Chouji relying on the tremorsense of his bare feet for comfortable "sight" and Hizano on his superior vision. Eventually they delved deep in, about two hours into the exploration. The area was getting hot and Chouji could smell sulfur and the smell of hot water. He guided Hizano even further down. Before long they found what Chouji had been looking for, a hot spring. This was a well needed treat for the village because the river outside was very cold in the early winter chill. "Looks like we got what we need now." Chouji said with a slight smile. "Let's get this place lit up, alright?"

Hizano and Chouji worked near an hour to get the area lit. Here and there they found good things to light up and more permanent types of hollows where oil could be poured and lit. In short order the caverns that held hot pools of water were well lit and pleasant to behold. "Like a work of art!" Chouji said with a smile of sorts.

"I bet Ty Dao-chan would like it..." Hizano muttered more to himself that Chouji, it seemed. Chouji looked at his student and made a frown. "I couldn't save her, Chouji-sensei." He said sadly. "I really did try but I couldn't and Kona-san just carried me away... I couldn't stop them from taking Ty Dao-chan away."

Chouji gave a sigh and sat down next to Hizano, patting the wet stone where he sat for Hizano to do the same. "It's not your fault, Hizano-kun." Chouji said. "We were outnumbered twenty to one and Uchiha Tobi didn't make it any better on us. Even Ty Dao-chan couldn't take on those numbers."

"But why didn't I just use my polar aura like before, back in the Tiger Capital? I wanted to but I couldn't!" Hizano cried out.

"That form," Chouji started, "Is exactly like a bijuu within the body of a jinchuuriki. Until you learn to commune with it and control it fully, which I suspect won't be for many more years, you can't call upon it willingly unless you are in great distress or anger."

"But I was angry! And I was distressed!"

"Then maybe you just weren't angry enough."

"Then I want to learn to become more angry!" Hizano yelled out.

"Don't be so foolhardy." Chouji said sternly. "Largely anger only makes you stupid. We'll get Ty Dao-chan back just like we'll get Hinata and Takara-chan back."

"I hope so, Chouji-sensei." Hizano spoke up in a depressed manner.

"Come on." Chouji said. "Let's get back to the village proper. We need to tell about this."

After some more walking back to the village the two ran into Kyogi, smoothing out the tunnels and burrowing further in. They informed him of the hot spring location and, soon enough, he and a team of nine other Nagamori members were on their way to smooth out the rock. Chouji had a bit of hope. They were far away from danger and there were no moles, of that everyone had made sure.

Maybe he would have his family back sooner than he thought. They just had to get Uzumaki Naruto; The man whom he had torn Konoha half apart with.

Back In Konohagakure No Sato

She had woken up in fire. It had taken Hazumi Ty Dao exactly one-sixtieth of an instant to wake up enough to swelter the room. She had stood and people had turned to fight her but Ty Dao's hand to hand skills were something most Jounin in Konoha hadn't yet known. In a room that was steadily growing hotter, seventeen ninja all around her Ty Dao had nearly beaten the guards and gotten a path out when Tobi had touched her. The wrapping arms of the new Hokage were on her, she heated her body beyond her limit and the people in the room fell...

And she was in a new room, the walls a strange padding certainly with insulated metal behind it. "Is this a challenge, Tobi-sama?" Ty Dao had roared, sarcasm toxic in her voice, "I'll kill myself fighting you!" Ty Dao didn't know quite whom Tobi was but she had heard the history and read about it. Epic ninja master or not, dead or not, Ty Dao knew this was all wrong and knew that it had been the "rookie nine," their own teachers, who had defeated that man. Ty Dao would burn her way out no matter what!

... That was eight hours earlier.

Ty Dao now sat in a near airless room, an oven of mammoth proportions. She sat cross-legged in the middle. The walls had proven dense when she had struck them. She knew active struggle would prove unintelligent. It was "fireproof" though Ty Dao was determined to melt it away. The padded material that had been so hard to burn at first was stripped entirely away and the metal walls red hot. The floor beneath her was baked earth now; the force of the heat inside the room radiating off of Ty Dao's body had pushed what metal slag formed at her feet away. The pressure was intense and the trance-state Ty Dao sat in was almost too intense for her. She would have sweat if she could have.

Outside the surrounding rooms were boiling. The viewing room had lost all surveillance capability. Tobi had taken grievous burns when he had grabbed Ty Dao to transport her but he had gotten away. Yuuhi Asame sat with him not too far away. The compound was sweltering and the rooms closest to Ty Dao's containment room were evacuated due to the heat. As Medical ninja attended to Tobi's burns Asame watched the activities of Ty Dao's containment, as Tobi had asked of her, "As first of your punishment for turning away from your village in a time of need."

It wasn't bad. Asame had paperwork duties, which she didn't mind too much. It was boring and tedious but Asame hadn't ever minded reading. If it had to be done, after all. Tobi wasn't such a bad guy and handled Hokage duties with good intent. Asame had already filed paperwork (properly read through, of course) to redirect a good deal of the village's funds to everything that needed to be done. He took regular council well and thought through decisions at length before passing them or not. People crowded him at all times but he seemed to have the right way for every problem. Asame could see why so many people came to Tobi's side when he stepped up for Hokage in place of Tsunade. He truly cared, or at least seemed like he did.

While there were many who loved Tobi's new found control of the village, however, there were three times as many who had very public secrets of hatred toward his causes. He had been an enemy and where Asame actually believed Tobi could mean some good for the village there were three people on her squad that believed Tobi the most horrible of criminals and fostered hate for him but, as ninja of the village, they were happy not to get involved with it since Tobi hadn't stepped out of line and they existed fr the village, not their hatred for former enemies. "This is a troubled time" Tobi had said when Tsunade failed to show up at the appointed hour. Everyone had to assume the worst, "We must band together and fend off this enemy for the better of Konoha!"

And indeed Tobi had done Konoha a favor. When times had looked most grim, so Asame had gathered, Tobi appeared in ragged clothing and broken mask, wading through the field in blood and peril to take charge of a group of ninja who were fighting Kage enemies off of their position. He turned the tides and gathered up the ragtag teams of ninja in order to help out. Without Tobi's guidance they would have been mopped up in not much time at all. While Asame was living in relative comfort, though half frozen, Tobi's squads were playing a bloody gorilla warfare to take back the village and mop up the remaining Kage informers. They truly had reclaimed Konoha after the Great Wave; saving the surviving civilians and pursuing the homes that they had needed to leave behind. Even the helpless civilians had led a successful front with a few civilians in every team to take out straddlers while the more powerful opponents could be taken on.

Asame had grown much respect for the new Hokage. She cringed at the though of how much pain her leader must have been in. Ty Dao was the strongest and most cunning of the new Chuunin and Asame just hadn't made that cut. When Ty Dao stripped the flesh off of Doubutsu Tai Tankou's body Yuuhi Asame had been drooling stupidly from the very opponent that was being beaten.

"Asame-san," Tobi spoke painfully, "I give you the right to drop out of this assignment and return to your home. It seems the Hazumi clan's Kekkei Genkai is stronger than we gave credit for. She's going to get out if she wants."

"But can't you slip in and take her out, Hokage-sama?" Asame asked.

"Oh no," Tobi shook his head, shaking a sizzling palm at the rookie, "That heat is certainly lethal even for me. At this rate the best we can hope for is that Hazumi Ty Dao runs out of chakra. The next best hope would be to get a water jutsu to pierce through but at the heat she's putting off I doubt it would be any sort of help. Even experienced Katon users would die. Hazumi-san is truly an opponent to be reckoned with. It's no mystery how she won the Chuunin Exam... but it's the job of the Hokage to take care of these matters."

"I will still stay here!" Asame said, awed by Tobi's ambition. "I am a ninja of Konohagakure No Sato! I will stand ready with you to the end."

Tobi's voice went a little high for a moment and waved his hands, yiping in pain, "No, no, no, Asame-san. If Hazumi Ty Dao wants to get out she will. It's my job to distract her away from the village. She'll burn anything that gets too close and once she starts moving we'll be lucky to get no bystanders injured. I'm not sure any of us will survive at this rate." Tobi stood as the medics were finishing up with him. "My team on me. Open up the doors and shutters. Start venting the pressure and clear way. I'll distract her. Start aim from long distance. Get your hands off of me, I'll be fine. Let's give her a show.

Inside the chamber Hazumi Ty Dao felt it, the heat, the fever, the bliss. Her head swam with fire and she loved it. She opened up her blind eyes and saw everything. And it was aglow with resplendence unknown. Her skinned crackled in the heat, the steam trails along her body pushing out smoke. She stood slowly, stepping out in her spider silk wraps. The world around her was alight and she was the cause; lungs felt like ice and feet felt like air, dancing across the baked earth floor. A divine chorus of sound exploded around her as she made contact with the melting steel walls. The slag that fell upon her felt like water as it bubbled on her skin. She felt no pain from the melting walls, she was hotter than them.

The walls caved around her, the ceilings fell in. She ignored them all. Nobody was there. Her nose smelled like nothing, her hair floated in the heat around her. Her kunai was hot even for itself. Her insides were a furnace. Tobi, she could see him, she knew he was in front. She did not hurry her pace; her burnt face locked on him as she stepped aglow toward him. She followed and he launched attacks futilely, guiding her on. Who could touch her?

She allowed herself to be led for some time. The world exploded into fire wherever she went but nobody came to kill her, just Tobi launching jutsu after useless jutsu. She got out of the complex, down the road, through the empty square and into the woods. It was safe. Her skin grew agitated. She wanted to stretch her muscles, the raw burnt sinew that sagged off of her.

But now she was out and she saw him. Her legs tightened and her hair near tore itself apart when she moved forward to strike. And she was there; touching Tobi's shoulder. His hand had been on her first to stop her but it was already half charred off. Her deaf ears could hear him screaming, her blind eyes see him writhe in pain. He was gone, back out of her vision. She turned and advanced where she felt him but, suddenly, the world exploded in light brighter than her fire. Ty Dao's heat was not inherently bright, just hot, a dull red. Though this was brightness in it's finest form. Where it had come from she didn't know but she oriented toward the source, only to see with blind eyes a torrent coming her way. Ninja were attacking her from just outside safety range. They had been ready for her. She knew where this was going. Tobi was not stupid. She moved, _buzzed _through the forest. Her body at such heat couldn't sustain good top speed without breaking apart but she still travelled fast.

Tobi was outside of her vision, in front of her. She tensed and jerked forward, near tearing him apart. She had missed.

Tobi had near died. Even on the edges of Ty Dao's danger zone the air rippled with heat. Even the support ninja who were at the very farthest edges of Ty Dao's heat throwing long range jutsu into the fray were sweltering. Some had passed out from heat stroke.

Tobi turned about just in time to feel the Hazumi member rip through the space next to him. He flew and hit a flaming tree, busting through it. He would die if this kept up. He swirled out and back in a healthy distance away. He had precious seconds before Ty Dao would catch up. He looked about the landscape. The support crews were up ahead. He had granted them his power in the form of pre-sealed scrolls but it had taken some energy out of him that he sort of wished he could have kept for himself at this particular juncture.

He appeared toward a gap. There wasn't long. Ty Dao was moving in _Pops_, ripping through regions of the forest at breakneck speeds. As he was advancing he had to keep his eyes on his back. In fact, as he swirled back into existence Ty Dao was on him again. She popped into existence right next to him and the pressure slammed him into a nearby boulder. He was half plastered to the now melting boulder but he shrugged off and behind it. Ty Dao was playing for keeps.

As he neared the desired point Tobi looked behind to see Ty Dao rip into existence in front of him. She had missed twice but third time's the charm. She had him by the torso, both hands digging into his flesh with the heat that could melt fireproofing. He twisted and curled but couldn't get loose. He tried to get away but he couldn't think straight. He could only swirl back out so quickly. It was red all around. He was fading out. He was going to die!

A torrent hit them, bringing Tobi back to consciousness. Asame's hand wrapped around his as the torrent pulled him away. Tobi waved her away and pulled her behind him and the water that carried them flashed into fire again as Ty Dao's furnace of a body boiled the water from the air in a half second. Tobi took the brunt.

Ty Dao looked around her with red face and pink eyes. The chorus in her mind was like the finest of symphonies. The heat that made her brain swim was music but when she looked upon Tobi after he got from her grasp her music stopped. Asame was behind him. Ty Dao could feel Tobi's eyes on him, staring her down, challenging her integrity. If she killed him now the backlash would tear the rookie apart and leave nothing to identify. Ty Dao gave a smile and turned away as her heat grew less destructive. The other ninja swarmed in, covering her heat with water. She shrugged it off. Tobi hadn't prepared it but had gotten her to a cliff gap. She walked slowly as people got closer. She was losing chakra. She was about to die. Her music was crashing to a climax.

The water cooled her and people actually started getting close. She threw off the last vestiges of power to get to the edge. She didn't fear death from that fall. She would rise higher if she lived. People burned but did not die and the trees around her caught alight.

As she reached the edge, pushing people from her form, she looked back hopefully. She saw Tobi standing with Asame in his arms, sizzling but holding a mostly unharmed girl. Ty Dao treasured the last bits of appreciable vision she could get, no matter how tainted by that pink blind glow her eyes had grown to hold. Tobi's eyes locked on her; they were hard but appreciating. He called out and raised his hand, calling the ninja back. Ty Dao tumbled over the edge. He was not going to hurt Asame. In his eyes, as Ty Dao fell, she remembered seeing safety. She had let Tobi go. She could tell he thought it was the right thing to do. He was giving her a free pass. He was letting her know she had done well in her choice. He was evening their score.

Neither one would die that day.


End file.
